Tissue dispensing container and tissue packs therefor



Fb- L w49 H. w. PATTERSON 2,459,306

TISSUE DSPENSING CONTAINER AND TISSUE PACKS THEREFOR Filed July 15, 1944 at a time that the downwardly extending dispensing-end side wall I8 should have its lower edge portion shaped to hold the next successive sheet back. I do this by providing a junction line between the inner face 35 of the side wall I8 and the outer curved face 36 thereof having a very small radius at the point 31 and having a much larger radius around the face 36. By thus shaping th dispensing-end" side wall a snubbing action is obtained when each sheet of tissue is withdrawn.

When a sheet of tissue, such as 3D, is withdrawn from the package, the folded-back portion 4I of the next successive sheet 42'is caused to extend between the v/all portions I8 and 22 and the fold line between the portion 4I and the remainder of the sheet lies just inside the junction line which has the small radius 3T and extends upwardly irom the..bottom of the container to prevent the sheet from sliding out of the container until 'it ispulled. This 'assures that even though the container is almost empty the few remaining sheets will not fall out of the slot between the walls I8 and 2,2. Further, due to the s'nubbing action and due to the frictional resistance exerted on thetissue by the side walls I8v and 22 of the slot the sheet of tissue within the slot usually will not work its way back into the container.

When the container is full, the sheet Si? lcannot fall back into the container no matter what type of tissue it is made of due to the pressure of the other sheets therein, but when the package has been almost emptied there may be, for some types of paper, a tendency for the sheet 3i! to Awork its way back into the container. In order to prevent this, biasing means B may be provided. rIhis 'biasing means may be a spring or a spring-biased plate built into the container in such a way that the spring or plate is gently pushed toward the bottom of the container. However, this construction adds materially to the cost of the container and I prefer to provide a biasing means with each package of tissue. This biasing means is a sheet'of cardboard 5I preferably having a hole 52 cut near the center thereof and-.which is slottedalong lines 53 `and 55 parallel to the sides'of the cardboard sheet 5I. There is `also a slot 55 running transversely through the hole 52, to theslotted lines 53, 54, and the cardboard is scored-or punished alonglines 5G, 56 which extend between the slots 53, 54 at the ends thereof. 'Another biasine'means which in some respects is more simple than theY one justdescribed may be made from a sheet of cardboard having a main face and a side face. One of these.

sheets of cardboardis supplied` with cach replacement pack ofv tissue.4 The cardboard lies in the pack with its main face parallel and adjacent to themain face ofthe stack or tissue sheets, and with its side face in a plane at right angles to the plane of themain faceand extending down the end-face ofthe stack of tissue sheets. .When the pack is opened this-side face is folded backwards through an arc of about 270 degrees until its plane lies about parallel to the plane of its main face. sheet of cardboardl are, then put into the ccntainer with the Vfolded vedge of the cardboard at lthe dispensing-end of the container and the container is then closed. In this position the cardboard exerts ,a bias tending to pushall sheets of The pac-k of tissues and the folded.

tissue toward the slot at the dispensing-end of the container. v Y

.When a person desires to lfill `the lcontainer with tissue, he buys a replacement package at a drugstore or the like. The package may be wrapped in Cellophane or in some other such protective covering, and the package includes on top face of the interfolded sheets of tissue the cardboard member 5I in its form shown in Figure 5. The person opens the Cellophane wrapping and removes it from the package. He inserts his finger in the hole 52 and folds the flap back along the scored line 56 and then folds the flap 58 back along the scored line 56'.

One method of lling the container is to turn it in its lip-side down position and then to place the unwrapped package of tissue into the container with the cardboard biasing member 5| against'the inside face of the top surface I 3. The folded-back portion 4I of the last sheet in the pack is then inserted between the two dispensingend side walls I8, 22 and the container is snapped into its closed position.

The sheets of tissue which are within the container may then be withdrawn one-at-a-tirne while the container is in the usersvpocket'until all have been used. The container is then opened, the cardboard biasing member 5| is thrown away, and then a new pack of tissueswith its new cardboard biasing member 5I is inserted into the container. 1

While I have described rmy invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that numerous changes may be made in the construction and arrangements of parts .without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention as set forth in the claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a container of asize to be carried in a pocket or a purse for dispensing one sheet at a time from a pack of interfolded sheets of tissue, a top member `having an integral vdownwardly extending dispensing-end side wall and two integral downwardly extending side walls and an integral downwardly extending catch-end side wall, a bottom member having an integral upwardly extending dispensing-end side wall positioned outside of vand spaced away from the downwardly extending dispensing-end side wall, the ,spacing being suiiicient that a sheet of tissue will readily pass Ibetween the two said dispensing-end walls when it is Withdrawn vfrom the container, said bottom member .having two integral upwardly extending sidewalls having terminal edges which conform with and closely engage the terminal edges of the respective two downwardly extending side walls and also having an integral upwardly extending catch-end side wall having a terminal edge ,which conforms withand closely engages the terminal edge of the downwardly extending catch-end side wall, catch means on the two catch-end side walls for engaging and holding ie container shut, and hinge means on the dispensing-end of ksaid container for hinging the top and bottom members together.

2. In a tissue dispensing container as set forth in claim l, the further characterization that the downwardly extending dispensing-end side wall has a substantially planar inner face and a rounded outer face, the junction between said two faces Adei-ming a sharp edge line spaced from the bottom member a distance only slightly greater than the thickness of two sheets o f said tissue for preventing more than one sheet of tissue at a time from being dispensed therefrom.4

3., In a tissue dispensing container as set forth inwclaiml,l the further characterization that a pack of foided tissues to be dispensed lies within the container with a fold edge adjacent the inner face of the downwardly extending dispensing-end side wall and with a short end portion of tissue extending away therefrom, said short end portion of tissue being interfolded with the next adjacent lower sheet whereby when said next adjacent 1'raver sheet is withdrawn from the container said short end portion of tissue is caused to extend out of the container between the said two spaced apart dispensing-end side walls, and the folded portion of the tissue between the short end portion the main portion of the sheet of tissue engages the lower portion of the inner face of the downwardly extendi ing dispensing-end side wall to prevent the sheet of tissue from sliding out of the container until it is pulled therefrom.

4. In a tissue dispensing container as set forth in claim l, the further characterization that the spaced apart upwardly and downwardly extend ing dispensing-end side walls overlap each other by an amount substantially equal to half the thickness of the container at their side portions, and said upwardly extending dispensing-end side wall has a relieved center portion which overlaps the downwardly extending side Iwall by an amount substantially equal to one-quarter the thickness of the container whereby an enlarged finger opening is provided for grasping the tissue.

5. A tissue dispensing container comprised of two portions and means hinging said two portions together, each of said two portions including a planar main face and an edge portion extending at an angle to the `plane of the main face, said two portions being hinged together by said hinge means at said two angularly extending edge portions, and one of said two edge portions lying inside the other of said two edge portions and in an overlapping position, said two edge portions being spaced from each other for providing clearance for the passage of an individual sheet of tissue therebetween and for providing clearance whereby'said two portions can move with respect to each other about said hinge without said two overlapping edge portions engaging each other.

6. A pocket-sized tissue dispensing container comprising, a first portion having a planar major face and at one end thereof an edge face extending substantially at right angles to said planar face, a second portion having a planar major face and at one end thereof an edge face extending at an angle to said planar face which is greater than 90 degrees, hinge means connecting said rst and second portions together at said edge faces with said planar faces substantially parallel and with the edge faces overlapping each other and, due to the differences in the angles between the edge faces and the planar faces, spaced from each other a suiicient distance to permit the passage of a sheet of tissue, and other edge faces connected to at least one of said rst or second portions for establishing substantially a complete enclosure.

7. As an article of manufacture: a pocketsized container for a package of interfolded tissue comprising a first major face portion having four edge faces each extending substantially at right angles to plane of the major face, a second major face portion having four edge faces three of which extend substantially at right angles to the plane of the major face and the fourth of which extends at an angle greater than degrees to the plane of the major face, hinge means connecting said two portions together with the major faces extending substantially parallel to each other and the edges of the said three edge faces of the second major face portion substantially in engagement with and conforming to the edges of three of the said four edge faces of the rst major por ion for establishing three substantially closed side walls of said container, catch means connected to one of said side walls for displaceably holding said two major face portions together, the fourth edge face of said second major face portion lying outside and spaced from the corresponding edge of said rstmajor face portion whereby a sheet of tissue may be drawn between them, and said corresponding edge extending from said first major face portion to a point close to said second major face portion for substantially closing the said container yet permitting withdrawal of sheets of tissue.

8. In a tissue dispensing container, a pocketsized container having side walls which form substantially an enclosure, one of said side walls being comprised of two spaced apart overlapping wall portions establishing a slot communieating with the interior of said container at a location adjacent one wall of said container and through which tissue sheets stacked with their major faces parallel to the major faces of the said container may be pulled from said container, said space between said two wall portions being substantially uniform and being sufficiently great to accommodate two thicknesses of said tissue without exerting frictional forces sufficient to tear the sheet being pulled through the said slot, the said slot, in cross-section perpendicular to its two defining wall portions, being curved throughout its length and the said space being sufficiently small that frictional forces of suicient magnitude are exerted on a single sheet of tissue to prevent said single sheet of tissue from slipping back into said container when it is not being pulled out of the container.

9. A tissue dispensing container as set forth in claim 8, further characterized by said slot being of sufcient length to protect substantially the entire area of the end of a sheet of tissue which is in position to be pulled from the container.

10. A tissue dispensing container as set forth in claim 8, further characterized by the said two spaced apart wall portions which form said slot being substantially parallel.

HERMAN W. PATTERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 470,906 Whitelaw Mar. 15, 1892 546,849 Hughes Sept. 24, 1895 1,706,220 Fairchild Mar. 19, 1929 2,269,039 Ross Jan. 6, 1942 2,314,849 Sullivan Mar. 23, 1943 2,345,309 Wensel, Jr Mar. 28, 1944 2,346,488 Hoffmaster, et al. Apr. 1l, 1944 2,350,463 Kallur June 6, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number, Country Date 437,718 France Feb. 241912 

